Demountable rail fence



March 26, 1968 C MCELRQY ET AL 3,374,986

DEMOUNTABLE RAIL FENCE Filed Feb. 2, 1967 TA E INVENTORS CHARLES. R. MQELROY,

VINCENT u. ROSSVTTO 9c.

EDWARD R056 @jMA12L+ @ww ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,374,986 DEMOUNTABLE RAIL FENCE Charles R. McElroy, Clarence, and Vincent J. Rossitto and Edward H. Robb, Buffalo, N.Y., assignors to Metal Cladding, Inc., North Tonawanda, N.Y-

Filed Feb. 2, 1967, Ser. No. 613,627 4 Claims. (Cl. 256-59) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A demountable rail fence wherein a series of upright posts having T-shaped upper ends and tubular horizontal rails are each notched at one end so that the other end may be slipped over a T projection of one upright post and the notched end may be snapped laterally over the opposed T projection of the next adjacent upright post.

Background of the invention This invention relates to rail fence construction and particularly to a rail fence structure which is adapted for quick erection and disassembly.

In certain fields of use there is need for railing or fencing which is readily erected or taken down as necessity dictates. One such use is in horse racing wherein relatively temporary railing or fencing is employed to modify the race course so that a given lap is shorter or longer than otherwise or pursues a modified course or path.

Generally speaking, fencing or railings of this type available in the prior art have been cumbersome, the parts have not been readily interchangeable, erection and disassembly requires special tools, and the resultant fencing or railing is often not sufiiciently secure even for the relatively light duty here contemplated. Furthermore, the cost of such fencing or railing usually reflects the special connections and fastenings required for quick assembly and disassembly.

Summary of the invention In a preferred form the fencing 0r railing of the present invention comprises a series of uprights which are inserted into the ground or into assembly with other elements for holding the upright in generally vertical position. The present invention is not particularly concerned with the means for thus holding the upright in such vertical position.

Each upright has a pair of oppositely extending horizontally aligned projections which in the present instance are cylindrical. Accordingly, when a series of uprights is in position the several cylindrical projections thereof lie along the line or path along which the fencing or railing is desired to extend.

The horizontal rail members are tubular and in the preferred embodiment cylindrical. One end of each tubular horizontal rail member may be longitudinally slotted to provide a degree of flexibility and the other end of such member is provided with a notch of substantial extent in an arcuate direction, such extent being however somewhat less than 180.

In a preferred form the horizontal rail members are molded of plastic material although metal, particularly light metal such as aluminum, may be employed. In erecting a railing or fence thus constructed, the first-mentioned end of the rail member which is preferably slotted, is assembled over one of the cylindrical projections of an upright member and due to the resilience provided by the slot the rail member may grip the cylindrical member resiliently. The other end of the rail member, which is notched as indicated, is then placed against the opposed cylindrical projection of the next adjacent upright and Patented Mar. 26, 1968 ice the rail member is pressed against such cylindrical projection until the latter passes through the notch, causing a certain resilient spreading of the notched end of the rail member, until such notched end snaps over the cylindrical projection in resilient gripping engagement therewith.

Disassembly is just as readily eifected by pulling the notched end of the railing laterally until it unsnaps from the cylindrical projection, whereupon the railing may be moved generally lengthwise to release the other end thereof from the opposed cylindrical projection of the firstmentioned upright member.

Brief description of the drawings" FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a section of fencing or railing constructed in accordance with one form of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of one of the horizontal rail members of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through a horizontal rail member taken approximately on the line III-III of FIG. 1.

Description of the preferred embodiment Like characters of reference denote like parts throughout the several figures of the drawing and in FIG. 1 the numeral 10 designates generally a pair of adjacent upright members and the reference numeral 11 designates generally a series of horizontal rail members. The manner in which the upright members '10 are positioned upon the ground at their lower ends is not directly a part of the present invention but by way of disclosing a complete working embodiment FIG. 1 illustrates a T-iron at 12 which is adapted to be driven into the ground and which has secured thereto a pair of spaced cylindrical bushing members 13 and 14, as by welding or the like. Suitable apparatus is provided for serially driving a series of these T-irons 12 into the ground at the desired longitudinal spacing or pitch.

The main body portions of the upright members 10 comprise plastic tubes 15 and the lower ends of the tubes 15 are merely slipped downwardly over the bushings 13 and 14 so that, in the present instance, the tubes 15 extend down to the ground line G.

Brackets 16 which may comprise fiat plates of plastic material are fixed to the upper end of the tubes 15, in the present instance by being set into a body of set polyester resin or other settable plastic material such as epoxy resin. The upper ends of the brackets 16 are fixed medially to horizontally disposed plastic tubing members 17 whereby equal portions of the latter project horizontally in opposite directions from bracket 16. As best shown in FIG. 3, the tubing members 17 are slotted centrally at their opposite side wall portions so that the upper end of bracket 16 extends through the slots and is held therein by a suitable bonding material such as epoxy resin or a polyester resin.

One of the horizontal rail members is shown in detail in FIG. 2 and comprises a main body member of plastic tubular material designated 20 and, in the present instance, has a tubular liner or insert 21 in the medial portion thereof for purposes of reinforcement. One end of tubular member 20 is slit as at 22 to provide a desired degree of flexibility or spreadability while the opposite end of member 20 is notched as indicated at 23 in FIG. 2. While subject to some variation, depending upon the resilience of the material employed and other controlling factors, in the present instance, notch 23 extends arcuately approximately whereby the lateral opening in the tubing member 20 provided thereby is somewhat less than the inside diameter of the tubing. Furthermore, the inside diameter of the tubing member 20 is approximately equal 3 to the outside diameters of the tubular members 17 which are fixed to the upper ends of the uprights 10.

In assembling the horizontal rail member 11 with respect to a pair of uprights 10 as shown in FIG. 1, the left-hand end of rail member 10 is telescoped over the portion of tubular member 17 which projects to the right from the left-hand upright 10 of FIG. 1. The slit 22 in the left-hand end of rail member 11 permits the same to spread slightly, particularly in view of the slight angularity of the rail member at this period of assembly neces sitated by the presence of the right-hand bracket 16 and tubular member 17 at the opposite end of the rail member. Slit 22 further insures a tight resilient gripping of the telescoped portion of tubular member 17 by the left-hand end of rail member 11 when the parts are in fully assembled position.

After the left-hand end of rail member 11 is thus assembled the right-hand end of the rail member is pressed against the portion of tubular member 17 which projects to the left from the right-hand upright 10. In the present instance this lateral movement is downward and causes the edges of the notch 23 to engage tubular member 17 and cam thereover, the notched end of tubular member 20 being resiliently spread by such camming movement until the notched portion of the rail member snaps downwardly into secure resilient gripping engagement with tubular member 17 in the finally assembled railing or fence structure. While the drawing shows rail member 11 as extending the full distance between a pair of adjacent brackets 16, the mode of assembly thus described and the construction of the parts is such that substantial lengthwise clearance may be provided so that the uprights 10 need not be precisely spaced. In other words, if the uprights 10 were spaced somewhat farther apart than illustrated in FIG. 1 the horizontal rail members 11 would assemble therewith in the same manner and just as securely as in the illustrated case.

We claim:

1. In a fence construction, a series of upright members each having aligned oppositely extending projections, and a horizontal rail member extending between each adjacent pair of upright members and having tubular end portions engaging about the facing projections of said upright members, one end portion of each rail member being telescopically engaged with a projetcion of one of said pair of upright members and the other end portion having a notch in the wall thereof of slightly less width than the width dimension of said projections, whereby said other end portion may be assembled with respect to the facing projection of the next adjacent upright member by lateral movement of said other end portion against said facing projection whereby said notched other end portion spreads resiliently and snaps securely over said facing projection.

2. A fence construction according to claim 1 wherein said one tubular end portion of said horizontal rail member is slit to permit limited resilient spreading thereof to provide for angular movement of said rail member incident to lateral assembly of said notched other end portion thereof.

33. A fence construction according to claim 1 wherein said upright members and said horizontal rail members are of plastic material.

4. A fence construction according to claim 1 wherein the oppositely directed projections of said uprights are cylindrical and the tubular end portions of said horizontal rail members comprise hollow cylinders.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 11,045 12/ 1889 Cleaveland 25 6--65 2,657,894. 11/1953 Sklenar 248251 X 3,269,553 8/1966 Ruhnke 256-65 X 3,286,850 11/1966 Ruhnke 248251 X DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

D. L. TAYLOR, Examiner. 

